Americus

Oklahoma teen Neal Barton stands up for his favorite fantasy series, The Chronicles of Apathea Ravenchilde, when conservative Christians try to bully the town of Americus into banning it from the public library.

Neal Barton has it tough. First, he’s a fantasy-loving smart kid trapped in a scary little conservative town. Second, he has a pretty negative take on life. While the attitude may well be an effect of the town, he’ll need to find some positive thinking if he’s going to get through what’s coming. His favorite series, The Adventures of Apathea Ravenchilde, is about to come under fire by conservative Christian town citizens trying to save children from the evils of witchcraft.

I love so many of the characters here, especially the town’s youth librarian who is SUCH a fangirl it’s not even funny. In this book, young people aren’t viewed as second class citizens by the good adults, and that’s refreshing. Bonus: a fairly happy gay teen character who may not have the parents he’d choose, but who seems to be getting along fine anyway.

Good book for introducing how some books are challenged by special-interest groups. In this story, a mother recruits community members to force the public library to pull a popular adventure-fantasy series. The librarian asks a shy avid-reader teen to help convince the town the reason for freedom in expression, thought and access to all information.

ISTALKYOURBOOKS
Jul 06, 2013

YOU GOT TO FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS TO READ A BOOK!!! This book was very good. It leaves you thinking. Why is it that when you find something that you find fasinating, there's always someone saying it has some dark twisted meanig behind it. Like come on really are people really that bored with there lives.